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Friday, April 22, 2011

The Next 35,000 invites going out - and the giant virtual currency leased weapon debate!

Ok - so - we have just enabled the next 35,000 people to enter the Beta.

You will be getting your notices in the next hour or so, but you are already permitted in to the game with your GamersFirst accounts. Have great fun in San Paro this weekend!

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The second item I want to address head on is the peculiar outcry over the leased-weapon expiration for weapons bought using virtual in-game money. So, I will be VERY frank about it. We have done this for two reasons (1) it actually LOWERS the amount of in-game cash (virtual in game money - which really equals TIME spent in the game) that you need to spend in order to try out every single weapon and find your favorite gun. In some cases it lower this "cost" (ie time spent) substantially before you get a chance to try the guns (as in the item now costing tens of thousands of in-game cash instead of MILLIONS as it was before), and (2), we are (and always planned) to use leased weapons (for real cash) and premium account access as a way to monetize the game - but not before you get a REALLY fair chance to TRY these weapons and features completely for FREE!

Also we are NOT saying there will not be permanent weapons in the game. There WILL be permanent weapons in the game. There will even be permanent weapons you can buy for REAL CASH too. Just NOT NOW while we are trying out game balance and watching player behaviors. And since the GAME IS FREE, we feel somewhat entitled to running various tests in Beta that we think will give us the required information before we come back with a new permanent weapon system both for in-game cash AND for real world cash. This will clearly let us design the best system to keep the game alive for the long term.

How much will permanent weapons cost when they DO get re-introduced, both in terms of in-game cash and real cash? Not sure yet. Again - the overarching goal here it to make it so that first time APB players can pick up the game and try almost all of it RISK FREE for NO MONEY. The second goal is to let people with large amounts of free time on their hands basically play the game long term FOR FREE by grinding (or potentially for some REALLY low nominal initial charge like $2 to get some base items that will give you a pile of items that will suffice to sustain you along with some grinding). The third goal is to let people who want LESS of a grindy experience buy a premium account (for something like $10-$15 a month) which REDUCES the amount of grinding substantially (but since they have TRIED everything FREE, you know what you are getting in to and will never be a "surprised" consumer), and the final goal is to let people who engage with the game long term (ie probably someone who ends up spending "retail-like" amounts of north of 50 USD / 40 EUR / 30 GBP or similar) have a really great long-term experience in the game, not too dissimilar from the experience you would have if you bought a retail product (but with far less risk since you have actually gotten to try EVERYTHING before you ever paid for ANYTHING). All this seems quite fair, given the enjoyment we hope you will have.

In the end, the GREAT news for everyone; if you install the game now, and don't like the game play (or the monetization system as it exist right now) - then simply DON'T BUY ANYTHING right now. That's ok (though our Dev Team won't really feel your loving support if you don't upgrade your account). However - it's perfectly ok if you are not ready to buy premium now, or lease a gun (OR BUY a PERMANENT GUN when that option is available), since we will just presume that at some point in the future, when we have added other features you like, you will then jump in to the game and become a PREMIUM PLAYER when you are having fun! For example; maybe you love racing cars and blowing things up? Great - when the racing system is added, then maybe this game is for you? At that point we hope you come back and re-engage with the game. We have seen this time and time again with our other F2P games, people make an account, and 12 months later return and suddenly become really engaged with the game when it's been updated to match their tastes.

Sounds like a heck of a deal to me! A game which will continue being updated, get new features, get more items, get new game modes (Mad-Max style racing anyone!), and you can continue to try it out casually until you find something that grabs your attention. ONLY AT THAT TIME are you ever likely to convert to a paying player.

I think the confusion is that often console and traditional PC gamers feel their games are "free" (since after making the initial purchase it all "feels" free, when in fact you already spent a lot of money to buy it in the first place, often before you could ever try the game out).

Well, here is the perfect alternative model. Try some weapons. Try some customizations. If you like the direction of things, or just want to expand what you do, then go Premium. If you feel this will be great longer term - then go get some serious permanent items (of course, ONCE they are actually available that is). If you don't like things this very moment, then we invite you to hang around for free, chat with friends, try out new tactics, and wait for future updates that might be more to your taste :) !

Nothing is set in stone anywhere in this game and APB will continue evolving along with the behavior of its players. So enjoy it! And support us (by going premium or buying an item) if you enjoy what we are doing! We clearly would appreciate it as that type of support since it will let us continue working hard to bring you an even better product in the future, and turn APB into the amazing virtual world centered around your custom tastes that we know it can become!

152 comments:

I do hope there will be some kind of "in-between" option, somewhere between F2P and monthly subscriptions, like microtransactions, or whatever. Not everyone will be willing to take the $10-15/month plunge, but will still want to help support the game. Food for thought.

I was wondering if things are going to get permanent once open beta comes out? i think that would make more sense because as much as someone would hate to grind for permanent weapons, it's totally worth it in the end. I totally agree with your setup for closed beta. But once open beta comes out, permanent items would be pretty good :)

I hope there's a delay from seeing this activated beta access in my GamersFirst profile on the Profile page on the site. I'm currently downloading the 1.5 update files, and I really hope my account works when I try and login -_-

If I missed the invites for the 3rd friggin time I'm going to eat a bullet.

@Bjorn / TechMech Ah I see rewards are random now. I will be subscribing to this premium feature as I am a big fan of APB. (Played since RTW Beta) One question what will the rewards be permanent items or leased stuff they you will lose?

Matthew: That was answered in the previous blog. You keep the stuff you get when you were Premium, if you let your Premium lapse. I also will be going Premium, 'here take my money'. Have loved this game since RTW beta...

Can't speak for anyone else but I'm going permanently premium, and I've never played APB before or even got into the beta :PSeen too many videos of the awsome customisation system and action.Hope the open beta arrives soon, can't wait to get started.

Hej Bjørn. Was just wondering, I can't log into the game yet and I still haven't recieved the invite via email, but for some odd reason I can't even log in with my user name/account on the forums. Is there any connection?

PS: I'm sure I'm typing in the right account info, but even the "forgot my password " ain't workiong atm.

Sorry to bother you again Mr.Bjørn. Just got my e-mail, seconds later after posting the previous msg, (Your account has been given Closed Beta access. You are receiving this email because your APB Reloaded Closed Beta Application was approved.) But it seems that I still can't log in anywhere, game is giving me 10010 and the site started to reject me too all of the sudden. Please advice..

@Breakurself - try using Email to log in, and if that doesnt work, try using GamerID instead (ie your account name instead of Email). We had an old bug affecting a few accounts where for some reason the two were not interchangeable (though they should be).

Thanks a lot for a very fast reply there Bjørn. I've tried them both and it seems that none of them are working atm. I've also reset my password 1 day ago or so after the 120 days warning, maybe it's something to do with that? Even so, I've also tried my old password, and ofc, without any luck. PS: Now, I am not able to log in to my G1 account at all. But I was logged on for 1hour ago. Weird... Sorry for any trouble. PPS: Waiting for new password to arrive after reseting it again, from the main site.

@bjorn, i am concerned about somthing, i am hoping you will not take the "champions online" rout of p2p to f2p,

exatly what all was avalable, but now costs extra money?

i heard someone say (they guy that dose apb intell) say somthing like having to pay for LAYERS in logos?

just what all was avalable, that now costs extra money to use

like in champions online, all classes used to be avalable along with costom classes. now in f2p, you have to pay for some classes or even doing costom classes, one of the bigest features in the game...

@Slash0mega - to get full customization features you need to upgrade your account to a premium account. We have kept it really simple; you can make some basic logos/tattoos using the free tools, but then if you go Premium for 30 days and use that time to make a bunch of stuff, you get to keep it even if you go back down to free in the next 30 day period.

In other words - if you are Premium (or have been Premium in the past at some point), then it will be visible to people in the world. If you have only been Free, then you will simply not be as cool looking of a character.

Also - the Premium applies to ALL characters you have in your account (so you can actually upgrade a bunch of characters with one Premium if you so desire)

Wonderful plans. I hope you'll stick with them rather than put more and more new players to stick in the wheel without a premium (although I do not plan to be, but still - this practice is very common).I hope you can make the game a unique thing and not another arcade shooter.Good luck to you all.

@bjorn thanks for the reply. that clears things up, slightly upset at the logo things, because i am broke and have ALOT of ideas going on in my head :P but at least you are not charging per icon, it would be like when it was p2p, just with some stuff released for free.

@renato - if you applied in the Feb application process - you should most likely have been added by now, unless of course you are under 18 (which is a no-no and made us discard piles of applications) and/or had some other disqualifying issue (no DXDIAG?)? If you didn't apply in Feb using the long form application, then you WILL be let in when we turn on the official OPEN BETA tap later.

@Bjorn Thank's for the reply, no, I'm not under 18. I did however apply in february for the initial beta release, however I'm still not in. I don't know if there something wonky going on with my gmail (I made it just for this game) Or maybe I was just unlucky.

@Bjorn Thank's for taking the time to help me out. I've checked my spam/trash folders multiple times to nothing. Actually, I'm afraid I'm already logged into the forums and the only one I see is the NA one. Now I'm having doubts, however, because I tried sending for a password change to my gmail account through gamersfirst website, and havent recieved since an hour ago. I probably should have stuck with my old mail.com account I used for the original apb closed beta I was in. But that's my fault, I've waited since late January for this, since the another few weeks won't hurt my poor soul :) (as much as I'm trying to tell myself that, haha) But to all who got in, have fun! It truly is a great game and am very impressed with the positive changes your team has made.

Did my question get ignored? Kinda bummed out i didn't get in the beta because i signed up for the newsletter the first day it came out but i was out of the country and was not around to do the beta application. Thats why i wanna know if i can still get in with this key my friend gave that he hasn't used yet.

is it just me, or is bjorn replying alot more than he has in the past, probaly because the comments are not flooded with "LET ME IN NOW" there is one persion complaining about not being let in, but he is being TACTFUL about it.

@renato thanks for NOT being a n00b, hopfully it will prove somthing to the flood of "i want in now" zombies that are do to show up tomorow morning, though i doubt they will bother to read anything before asking for keys.

@Slash0mega I totally agree with you. The hordes of "mmaaahh no keey gimmze nawoz pl0zz" people are sure to come tomorrow. When you like a game as much as APB like I do, waiting isn't so hard. I want the game to come out just as anyone else does but I also don't want it to fail.

Hmm i have a little problem:Yesterday evening, everything went alright. But Now the game just closes itself after 5 - 10 minutes ingame.

Explain:I walk arround, go on mission, customize my music or some other thing, and then the loading screen appears (as i would have left the game) and then it turns black. THats it, Nothing is happening after that.

Hey Bjorn, i have (as i mentioned earlier) played on my friends account, now i have been granted access and im thrilled! But i must say that i could not agree with you and your team more than i do. I really like the idea of the leased weapons system, because, as rank 18 i could go out and shoot with a sniper.. o.O i had to be. rank.. 100 to do that when RTW had it.. it creates some sort of ballance between new guys, and veterans.

It's not peculiar at all when you fail to explain yourself properly the first time. It makes sense NOW. But you should've given the proper explanation straight away to avoid complains. You can't expect people to speculate about what they don't know but only really act on what they DO know.

BTW. I think 10-15 dollar premium account is pushing it. That's paying the same as for a truly AAA game by a large studio that's completely polished and has a full feature set. (World of Warcraft, Rift, SWTOR, Planetside, etc.).At least have different sets of 'premium' accounts then. I won't mind paying 5-10 dollars a month for a premium account.

yeaaaaaaaaaa finnaly i cant wait it i will die here home i try like 100-900 game i download it and nothing this is awesome i played 5 min. becease someone put on youtube his account game is awesome i cant wait aaaaaaaaaaa omgggggggggggggggg :) Thx for answer

Dear Björn, I´ve got a question about the premium system, because I´m looking forward to support you when this awesome game gets released.Which ways of payment will be supported?Paypal, Transaction, Creditcard or Paysafe?

There is still no info about payment methods.since i dont have credit card,how can i purchase premium stuff?the only way i know is webmoney wich is russian vertual cash thing.its work in every other game already,even WoW.

The problem of the 35,000 email invitations to the already resolved? .. I'm amazed.I liked being one of 35,000 but of course I will not be, in fact I'm never, have I hope this game 2 years, but the old version had to pay to play and I did not have as many opportunities or not would then give a fortune per month for a game, but I loved! So how will be free I hope to be one of the guests and play! Thanks and have fun:)

After this Open/Closed BETA where everyone gets invited will the characters get deleted for the REAL open BETA? I dont wana start playing for real on open to find out everyone else has already got 100% finished and blasting me away with rocket launchers.

even i you submit a aplication, it dose not GARINTEE ANYTHING!!!! it has a bit of luck, if your computer stats fit what they are looking for, AND IF YOU FIT THE REQUIREMENTS YOURSELF, bjorn said that many of the aplications where disqualafied BECAUSE THE SUBMITER WAS UNDER 18

all i read is real money real money see de force us in paying whit real moneywhat the devs need to if de want make money so freaking bad make it Pay To Play for like 12 to 15 € will remove all the kiddy and the hacker for the game

Guys i love the game, but i keep crashing my game :) Hope you find the problem soon! :) @Sean i think its their coding maybe.. its always something about a fail delivery of something :) let 'em patch it ;)

Hey Bjorn, I got an invite back in January but never got to activate. Then when I tried it said too late. Now I see 35k more invites went out and I didn't get one. Any chance I'll get in before Open Beta?

That £20 a year around sounds great. I've never joined up to one of the big MMOs before because £150 a year is the best part of my gaming budget but I'd happily pay that. Hopefully that will include access to the whole game (full customisation and whatnot) and just leave out the convenience features like fast levelling and instant weapon purchasing.

awesome ish, loved the game when it first came out with RTW but only got to play it for a bout 3 weeks as I was not aware they were shutting down, so finally get my beta account activated today, but I no longer have a gaming PC so cannot play it right now :( on the plus side my friend said I can play it at his tomorrow, so will get to see what Gamersfirst has done with this epic game.Also as a real 'tester' rather than expecting to just be playing it early like probably 70% of the players now :P I will of course be commenting and reporting anything I feel needs to be mentioned.

Paying 15 a month for a game you actually play is less than what you would pay to see one movie. It's an entertainment fee. there's barely anything else that you can get for $15 that will last a whole month so shut it!

this game is gonna fail again...unless you guys make it more twitch. Just watch, all you fan bois will see when it does. And don't try to blame it on hackers this time. Weapons are just retardly fucked in this game, they make no sense. I suggest the devs go out to a shooting range and spend the next month there so you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

Great, thank you for clearing this up!When you posted the official list of updates in 1.5, you made it seem as if all perma-items were gone (or only $ items). The leasing idea with no other options is quite a bad idea, mostly for people who save up for an item and then it's gone in 10 days. I know in the beta when you first opened, every time I got x amount of money, I finally got the weapon I have been needing! If it expired in 10 days, I wouldn't feel like it was worth getting it.

I hope you even it out, and not in the end make it seem as if, if you aren't paying for a weapon, you're gonna have to continuous play to be able to have a good weapon.

Hey Bjorn can you send me please an key,Im an old RTW APB player(in the Beta too) and im realy want to help you with this wonderful game. Im waiting now for more than 2 month´s on an answer of my application.It would be nice if you can send me one

I HAVE JUST BEEN PLAYING WITH SOME FRIENDS TODAY FOR 5 OR 6 HOURS AND I MUST SAY:APB IS REALLY LOOKING GREAT IN JUST THIS LITTLE PATCH, I CANT WAIT TO SEE WHATS NEXT YOU ARE GOING TO BRING TO THE GAME :)

Hi Bjorn And all you other gamersi just love this game, all though i after the update to 1.5 have discovered some troubles my game lags the screen nad sound freeses before 1.5 i've always played with all video settings at the highest possible and resolution at 1980X1080 and it just ran smoothly my net connection is a fiber with 30/30 mb but i've moved to the european obeya i don't now if it could be the trouble i'm from denmark so i thought that would be most natural, anu one out the who have had the same experiances. all though i came to think what it is i like so much about this game and one thing is that it on some point reminds me of one of my other favorite games GTA and then came the thougt is there by any chance that you would introduce motorbikes like in GTA i could be so cool if we cuold ride to on a bike one steer it and one to shoot. :) :)

How can I get a key? I've been trying to play since a long time ago, made an gamerfirst account and everything but still not getting invited to the beta =\. Can anyone tell me how to get a key or you can give one :|. my email: raul_brizzz@hotmail.com

@Bjorn - Firstly, thank you for taking the time to acknowledge that you are actually reading the concerns of the players. Secondly, however, a point of equally "frank" criticism:

Exhibit A: "... is the peculiar outcry ..."

Exhibit B: "... since the GAME IS FREE, we feel somewhat entitled ..."

These are not appropriate ways to communicate with your loyal and supportive players who are giving you their honest feedback during an alleged "beta" in which you presumably -want- to collect the feedback of players. You go on to talk for a long time about how you want to make your game economically successful for your company, and I absolutely do not fault you for that -- however, adopting the same emotional, pretentious tone-deafness of your predecessor RTW is not going to allow you to reach or accomplish these goals.

I understand that it can be difficult to bear the slings and arrows of an angry playerbase after making a decision that you and your fellow developers debated at length and both logically and "spiritually" embrace ... but you need to be more open to criticism, even if you don't agree with the message being spoken. The rest of your post is more appropriate -- you should have neutrally laid out your explanation of what would be changing to fix the perceived problem of "never being able to buy a permanent gun in the game."

This should have been a very easy bomb for you to disarm before it ever deployed, though. You and your company should have made your policies abundantly clear BEFORE pushing the patch, and you would have avoided the mass hysteria that you are seeing now.

Anyway ... good job acknowledging that you are at least listening. Please work on the emotional responses and seeming indifference to our concerns. And more than anything ... don't ever use the word "Entitled" lightly. You are only "Entitled" to what we give you. Without us, you are "Entitled" to precisely nothing.

- Your posts here will be deleted- NONE will give you a key for there are NONE left- Read the news more often you punks- YOU NEED TO BE 18 YEARS NOT 17 , BORN 94 ISNT GOOD ENOUGH.-I hope Bjorn will detect your email and put it to blacklist for a year

this game or gamefirst is a fucking shit!!!!i got mya access to closed beta and i have since 2 days code error 10010 wrong pass or mail =====______________======= what the fuck my mail and passs is good